


so future boy

by Misprinting (misprinting)



Category: Young Justice
Genre: Hanging Out, M/M, Making Out, friendship to more, worried!Jaime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-16
Updated: 2012-12-16
Packaged: 2017-11-21 06:17:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/594424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misprinting/pseuds/Misprinting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hanging out and eating goes well with angst and kissing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	so future boy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [finkpishnets](https://archiveofourown.org/users/finkpishnets/gifts).



It's not when it starts, but it's after Jaime comes back from being kidnapped and is put on rest from duty for a week to recover (and so his mom can fuss over him like she needs to) that Jaime begins to understand what Bart is doing trying to be his friend. He adjusts to the idea that friendship doesn't actually seem to have a lot to do with it.

Bart comes over to play video games - even though he calls them vintage and too slow and way too 2D, he seems to like them because he always wins - at about 2pm every afternoon, but even with all that opportunity it takes Jaime a couple of days to ask. He's not even sure he wants to deal with the answer.

"Oh, my god, SHOOT, I'm telling you to SHOOT you stupid, slow, _ancient_ machine! Ihateyousomuch! SHOOT!”

"Did I just beat you?" Jaime asks. Bart frowns at him.

"Noyoudidnotshutup," he says. Jaime laughs. "You should not be able to beat me, howisthateven _possible?_ ”

Jaime shrugs. Bart huffs and throws the controller onto Jaime's bed.

"Stupid machine," he says. "I'm a slave where I'm from and _I_ had better games."

"That's not really a fair comparison when where you come from is the future," Jaime tells him. "And shut up, the N64 is the greatest console ever."

"So you keep saying," Bart says. Jaime feels a chip hit his cheek but doesn't see Bart throw it. He scowls at him and throws it back. Bart is chewing it before it's had a chance to reach him in real time.

"Don't speed when you throw things, you could hurt someone," Jaime says, aware that he sounds like his mother. Bart sticks his tongue out. "Um, so." Jaime starts. "Speaking of where you come from... The future. You said... I remember you saying you were here to stop me."

Bart shrugs and nods in a blur. Jaime looks away from him. He thinks he might be getting a headache; watching Bart move is starting to make him feel sick.

"Yeah, you know, come back here, save the world, stop Blue Beetle," Bart says. "It's taking a bit longer than I thought, but, hey, things tend to."

"So... that's why you're here right now?" Jaime asks. He finds a lose thread in his jeans and he tries to pull it out. "You're waiting for me to turn evil so you can stop me?"

"... well, I mean, right now I'm here because your mom buys the best snacks," Bart says, "Like, Nightwing keeps buying in all this fruit and nut crap for me to eat when I need to energy up and, you know, _no thanks_. But, I mean, it can't hurt to keep an eye out, right?"

Jaime nods. Because, okay, Bart's confirmed everything he was scared of being true, but, at the same time, Bart's right. And if Bart hadn't been on the look out, the others might've been too late getting to him and he might have been dead or evil already by now. So at least... at the least, even if it's not really a real friendship, it's still important.

"Speaking of snacks, dude, we've run out," Bart says, "Back in a flash!”

And he is, and Jaime sets up a new video game. The future is really easy to almost totally forget.

+

“I swear you’re eating more these days, Jaime,” his mom says as she adds three jumbo packs of chips to the shopping cart. “It’s good, I’m happy about it. You were always too skinny.” She gives Jaime a smile and a considering look, and Jaime smiles back and doesn’t tell her that there’s no way he’s getting less-skinny with Bart around.

When she turns her back, he adds another pack to the cart. She notices when she adds milk and she gives him a look just to let him know she’s not one to have wool pulled over her eyes, but she buys the extra chips anyway.

+

“So you’re back on patrol tomorrow, right?” Bart asks, sweeping into Jaime’s room. Jaime is lying on his bed, flipping through his math textbook, because he’d laid out the snacks and the video games for Bart to choose from, like, hours ago. But getting stood up is just a hazard when all your friends are superheroes, Jaime guesses.

Bart falls on a plate of cookies like he’s starving - and if he’s run from the nearest Zeta he might just be - and Jaime notices that his uniform is scuffed up and he’s holding his arm funny. He sits up.

“What the hell happened to you?”

“Lex Luthor,” Bart says. He waves his hand. “Don’t worry, we handled it. But, seriously, you’re back tomorrow, right?”

“Um…” Jaime rubs the back of his neck. “I mean, I guess, yeah?”

“Ugh, good, dude, you have no idea,” Bart pauses eating to point half a cookie in Jaime’s face. “We are so off balance without you. Who knew we could’ve formed a dynamic like that so quickly? But Nightwing was going on and _on_ about how off balance we were during debrief and I suddenly realized you were the only thing missing, so.”

“Oh,” Jaime says, and breaks off a piece of the cookie that Bart’s still pointing at him. Bart’s lips break into a grin.

“I’ll write that in my log, later,” Bart tells him. “ _Day whatever-we’re-on-now-why-is-the-past-so-slow: today Jaime exhibited first signs of selfishness - cookie-orientated - watch closely for escalating trends in evil-doing._ ”

Jaime rolls his eyes and laughs and then makes a big show of eating the cookie in front of Bart in the loudest, most obnoxious way possible.

+

Personal space turns out to not be much of a big deal when the only person Jaime really hangs out with outside of school and the team is Bart. He’s not sure what it is about Bart that makes him so unafraid of personal space, but Jaime suspects it’s the speedster thing rather than the future thing or whatever. He guesses Bart just isn’t used to ever not taking the shortest route to a thing, and quite often the shortest route to the rootbeer or the oreos is right through Jaime’s personal space.

Jaime learns to deal.

+

“Any more questions?” Nightwing asks, arms folded, standing tall, though he sounds as exhausted as Jaime feels. No one says anything so Nightwing nods at them all in dismissal. Jaime sighs. He cannot wait to be in bed.

“I’ve noticed that making out with your friends isn’t a big thing here,” Bart says suddenly. Nightwing looks up at the heavens and sighs, which is such an adult thing to do. It looks weird. Still, Jaime sympathizes. “Is that a thing? Cultural question, y’see.”

“Bart, _oh my god,_ ” Cassie says. Gar is laughing.

“Yes, that’s an… oh my god, I _quit_ ,” Nightwing points at Jaime. “I delegate this to you.” He lets his arm drop and pauses. He smiles a little, in a way that makes Jaime suppress a tiny shiver. “Good luck.”

Jaime turns to Bart. “You just asked Nightwing that. _Nightwing_. Oh my god. You couldn’t have asked me that tomorrow? When we were on our own?”

Bart raises an eyebrow. “Ohhhhh! So it’s _that_ kind of a thing, huh?”

Jaime laughs reluctantly and tries to shove Bart, who obviously dodges. “No! Shit, I know she’s hot and all but if you’re going after Cassie I _think_ she goes for guys her own age. Or, you know, older. Cloning, whatever. Point is: not your smartest move, genius.”

Bart laughs. “Oh, I am not going after Cassie, don’t worry.”

“I can’t believe you tried to pass that off as a cultural difference! You’re insane. Do you even have friends at home?”

“It’s not that far-fetched, shut up!” Bart says. He zips out and is back a moment later, handing Jaime a can of coke and a pack of chips. He has two chip packets for himself. “Did you know that where I’m from it’s acceptable to enslave an entire species? Yes, you did! Maybe we make out with our friends all the time for fun, too!” Jaime looks at him, trying not to laugh. Bart shoves his arm. “Shut up!”

“You shut up.”

“Nope, never.”

Jaime manages to catch Bart for just a second, long enough to ruffle his hair. Bart pulls away and grins at him.

“So, the making out thing; that’s definitely off the table?”

Jaime doesn’t bother answering with more than a laugh. He looks at Bart side on and rolls his eyes. Bart laughs and shrugs, and, yeah, Jaime can commend him for the effort.

+

Bart doesn’t drop things, though. Maybe Jaime should’ve been watching out for this, since Bart has to have been a pretty determined kind of guy to even be here. But he hadn’t been watching out for it, and all of a sudden the making out thing is an in joke Bart has with himself that Jaime feels like he’s a second too late in getting all the time.

Which is stupid; Bart’s the weirdest one out of the two of them.

But, like: “What do you wanna do?”

“Oh, hey, there’s this great game we used to play at home called making out with friends; let’s do that!”

Or, “I’m bored of these chips. Wanna make out?”

Or, “All your TV shows are so heteronormative. Is that why you’re uncomfortable with the idea of making out with me? Hey, you like saving the world! Let’s restore some balance to the world by making out! As friends!”

“Bart, _shut up_ ,” Jaime says, throwing himself back on his bed and hiding his eyes with his arm. Bart laughs and touches Jaime’s wrist.

“Nah, too much fun,” he says, and giggles to himself. Jaime groans.

“Could you _not_?” He asks. “Could you just stop messing around with me?”

Bart sighs. “But _Jaime_ … We could be messing around _with each other_ , that’s what I keep trying to _tell you_.”

Jaime removes his arm from his eyes so he can roll them at Bart, who sticks his tongue out in return. Jaime scowls at him.

“Maybe you should’ve stuck to terrorizing Cassie,” he says. Bart laughs.

“Dude, I was never terrorizing Cassie. I was always terrorizing you. And, okay, Nightwing, but come on.” Bart shrugs. “Mostly you.”

Jaime frowns. He sits up, leaning back on his hands. He considers Bart, which is kind of hard since Bart does not know how to stay still.

“Okay, fine, will you shut up about it?” Jaime asks, and then doesn’t wait for Bart to answer. He leans in to press their lips together. Funny thing, though: there’s no surprising a speedster. Bart’s there before Jaime is, and he’s _quick_. Even though he’s obviously consciously trying to keep it relatively slow, he’s a quick kisser. There’s no drawing breath.

_This human is too distracting. Recommend termination._

Jaime has to pause while he shakes that off and Bart stays where he is, waiting.

“Hm, ‘kay?” Bart asks when Jaime refocuses. Jaime nods, and Bart manages a slower kiss. “Good.”

Jaime briefly wants to ask Bart if this is a test, or if Bart is trying to stop Jaime from turning evil, still, or if this is a preventative measure.

But, he decides, after a well-kissed moment, to let it go. Sometimes maybe it can just be making out between friends.

+

“Are you still keeping your log?” Jaime asks. He can’t quite bring himself to ask if Bart still thinks he’s going to turn evil.

Bart looks at him and shrugs, frowning, like he doesn’t want to say. “Yeah, I mean. It took quite a lot for me to get back here, y’know? I can’t exactly give up.”

Jaime nods. He concentrates on shooting at Bart’s player on Goldeneye for a few minutes while he tries to figure out if he really wants to tell Bart everything he hasn’t yet. He doesn’t even know why now. But. He does, and it is now. So.

“When we were all captured, and they were torturing me, the scarab translated some of what they were saying. And… if it’s removed I die, and it gets a new host. So, I mean… if I die… if I die, then at least it’s not me who you remember. But then, you’re looking to stop the wrong person. And if I don’t die… I become that person? And-“

“Oh.”

Jaime and Bart look at each other. Bart puts his controller down and turns to Jaime. “Oh, okay. I’ve changed my mind. That’s… okay, yep, my mission no longer fits the environment. I’ll put that in my log.” He grins at Jaime. “Thanks, dude!”

Jaime frowns. “What, you aren’t going to save the world anymore? I’m kind of trusting you to do that, dude. I mean, and so is you in the future, and all the people there, and-“

“No, Jaime, of course I still want to save the world. It’s just, you know, it’s more like ‘change the world’. I haven’t decided which sounds best yet. But also, like, ‘stop Blue Beetle’ is way too limited. Or not specific enough. I don’t know.” Bart shrugs. “But clearly what I need to be doing is protecting you. So. New mission: ‘change the world and save Jaime.’” He grins. “There! Everything’s sorted!”

Jaime stares at him. “I could still turn evil. You don’t know that I won’t.”

Bart tilts his head. “People don’t just turn evil,” he says, “Look at Aqualad. And that means there are things I can protect you from.”

“Oh.”

“So that’s what I’ll do.”

“Oh,” Jaime bites his lip at Bart’s grin. “Oh, um. _Oh_.”

Bart frowns. “Dude, I can’t save you from a bad vocabulary. You’re ridiculous.”

“Shut up,” Jaime shoves Bart, misses, and kisses him quickly instead. Bart never dodges a kiss.

“Okay. I’ve got your back,” Bart tells him.

Jaime believes him.


End file.
